


After All...

by katasstropheee



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Future Fic, Happy Ending, Implied Sexual Content, Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-16
Updated: 2014-06-16
Packaged: 2018-02-04 20:32:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1792252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katasstropheee/pseuds/katasstropheee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cecil Palmer had never carved wood in his life ...- He just speculated that his worry and anxiety for a certain imperfect scientist had brought out an artistic ability he wasn't aware he had.</p>
            </blockquote>





	After All...

**Author's Note:**

> Set after the events of #49 Old Oak Doors pt. A
> 
> I loved this episode so much! I just loved hearing Cecil and Carlos's interaction so much, and from that came this little creation from mine.
> 
> -

Cecil Palmer had never carved wood in his life. He'd never touched wood, caught the stare of wood with a glance of his eye, never even sacrificed drops of blood to said objects deity or god. So could he figure out where the talent to carve twenty almost perfect wood-statues of his favourite office-pet had arisen from? No. He just speculated that his worry and anxiety for a certain imperfect scientist had brought out an artistic ability he wasn't aware he had.

I mean, it happened all the time to other people and entities of identical-existence, right?

And he shouldn't second-guess these sudden bursts of talent, should he? He's sitting at home right now, small chisel in one hand, large slab of wood in the other, letting the inspiration flow from his brain, through his veins, to his hands, and letting the universe take control. Though given the fact that the universe is just an endless black void in the sky without inner, or outer thoughts, he didn't know how it was possible for any control to be taken at that time. _Maybe it's a science thing_ , he thought as the chisel came to life in his clenched fist.

He worked all night, sitting in the dancing lights of the distant, sleeping Glow Cloud. It silhouetted the other statues all lined up along his - _their_  - kitchen bench, creating violet gold and green silhouettes and shadows, dancing along the walls of his home. _Their home_.

He sighed, and halted his chiselling. After wiping the strange water from cascaded from his eyes with the collar of his rolled-up shirt, he looked at his unfinished creation, which wasn't unfinished at all. There stood, yet another, perfect carving of Khoshekh. This time, he was posed licking his paw, with the same sign of affection he often showed others when he was disturbed grooming; hissing through his razor sharp row of glistening teeth, howling in a cry beautiful to some but hideously scarring to others, and brandishing the said-intruder into non-existence by taking a bite of their ankle with his venomous fangs. How he managed to reach their ankles from his constant floating state above one of the sinks in the men's bathroom of the radio station, was still a foreign mystery to everyone who worked there, and the hovering-animals experts they had called, but had been just-as-mysteriously hung up on.

He had even sent an intern to the library once to research the strange phenomena, but they had never returned from their outing. _So, so strange_.

Still, the carving was beautiful in its own right, and was now being placed beside its fellow comrades, along his - _their_  - kitchen bench. He sighed again, feeling the day of endless routine pass through his tensed shoulders and ridged back. He could go for a massage right now, or maybe sleep would just have to do. He placed his chisel and other equipment into a draw, and closed it sharply, letting the echo fill the endless void that was his home.

_Their home, THEIR!_

"I KNOW!" he screamed at the walls. He didn't appreciate them screaming back, reminding him of his current situation. Yes, it was their home, only tonight, and for the past 28 nights of this long hybrid summer-autumn, he was alone. There were times that a stray flow of wind that escaped in through a cracked window, or a creak of old plaster that fell from its foundation would mistake his skin and ears for the feel and sound of his Carlos coming home once again. But that was just the house playing dirty and completely unnecessary tricks.

He made a note to himself; "ask Carlos, when he's home and safe, about the reason they moved into a suspected haunted-slash-living house instead of a normal one that doesn't converse back with you when you're trying to talk to yourself". _It was probably in the name of science_ , he reflected for a moment, and if that were the case, he'd instantly drop it of course. Anything in the name of science should not be questioned. Well, only by scientists, obviously.

He sighed, yet again, the sound becoming a repeated gesture in his busy schedule and began heading for his bedroom for an early night.

_Where's my kiss goodnight?_

Shut up.

_What about a hug?_

Please.

_Not even a kiss on the cheek?_

The murmurs and whispers were almost too much. Almost, and Cecil was almost more than prepared to barge his head into the walls in an attempt to both shut up the structure and knock him out for the night. Almost.

Because just as suddenly as they had begun, they had stopped. The whispers and murmurs were gone, leaving a dead and dreadful silence in its wake. He heard the house creak, and he knew instantly it wasn't the house. He recognised every creak and crevice of the building, and this wasn't one of them. No, he wasn't alone. There was an unfamiliar, yet completely-familiar presence, itching the skin at the back of his throat, twitching his ears, and causing every hair on his physical being to stand to attention. He reached a hand back to scratch away the prickling sensation at his neck, and suddenly felt a hand circle softly over his wrist, gripping it in a tight harness.

Cecil squealed, almost like a girl he once knew, prudish and very high-pitched. He turned sharply at the foreign body still screaming too high to be manly possible. Another hand snaked out and slapped itself across his mouth, cutting off his high shriek mid-peak. He was waiting for more hands to reach out and holt him from fidgeting, but thankfully the intruder had only two. _Good_  he thought as he worked furiously to loose the grips to his arm and face. After all, you can't be too careful these days, what with multi-armed beings waltzing around with the right to vote and speak freely about the things the rest of us are not allowed to speak about. _Thickheads_.

"Please" a soft voice spoke up, now completely cutting off Cecil's lame attempts at struggling to freedom. He repelled from the voice at first, then was memorised by it, then felt its recognizable embrace clench his soul, just like the first time he had heard it, on the small stage on the lot at the back of the Ralph's, his voice echoing strongly across the crowd from his mediocre microphone, straight to Cecil's perked-up ears. Yes, it was just like the first time, only better, much better. "Before you commence screaming again, I need you to listen to reason. No! No, listen to science.

"I know that the world is not made up of beliefs and miracles. In fact, it's mostly made from minerals and matter and a weird black substance that welts up after big rocks are removed from the desert landscape, but it's also made of up of ideas, from the people that live on it, feed it, make the appropriate sacrifices for it.

"And as a scientist, I have studied its working engines and mechanics all my life. I have collected data and written it down in small notebooks depicting creatures that no longer exist, or might have never existed, on there covers. I have sweated, lost countless nights of sleep, and bled quite a bit of blood, all in the name of believing that the materials of the earth and moon and stars and dull endless void mean more than what we see with our eyes.

"And I believe in always coming back to the beginning, restarting from scratch, especially when I've lost my way. And I was lost, for a time, for a long time. I was searching for answers with meaning, with a scientific context that would help me find my way home again. But alas, I couldn't find the resources I needed. So I remained lost for a very, very long time more.

"But then I found my resources. Not in the earth. Not in the sky. Not even in the void. But in us, the people, in the strange and even stranger entities that live on this crumbling and dying planet. I met Dana, the intern you were spoke of often. You were very fond of her, weren't you? Anyway, she showed me through to her side of the dimension I had crossed, through the house I could not leave. She assisted me in my search for answers, and showed me all she had learnt herself, from her own journey of discovery. And I learned something, Cecil. Me. I learned something new, and it was incredible!

"I learned the basics of human nature, the instinct to survive that kicks in when we are in danger, or lost, just as I was. I mean, just as we were. She showed me a new way of thinking, a fresh avenue of possibilities, and I fell in love with this new wave of science. It was glorious and crisp and yet to be discovered.

"I am indebted to her, and I promised once I returned, I would find a way to bring her back to this world, with us, here. She did mention something after that about "taking my time", or something. I think she said, "Hey, what's the rush? I'm sure you have stuff to do, people to see, you know, wink wink" or something along those lines. Either way, I promised her I would use my science, and the new science, and help her safely return, to begin her own life again, as I am with mine.

"And my first thought, upon materialising in the empty front yard of the invisible house I was once trapped in, was to record the data, as much as I could remember. So on the way here I talked endlessly into my tape-recorder, which had not run its battery out, at all, as Dana had said.

"And as I was talking science, and new possibilities, and the brilliance of human connection, I thought of you. And I thought of how the concept of beliefs and miracles were just marketing-exercises for children in order to get them to obey their parents. But at that moment, it was more than that. It was a feeling I had, from the moment I was lost, to the moment I knew I could be found again. I was ... hoping. Yes, hoping, wishing. I wished to be free, I wished to be home, I wished for our home.

"And I believed. And it worked. Here I am!

"And so ... yeah" he ended so abruptly, shaking Cecil into partial awareness once again. The speaker had removed his hand from his mouth way back at the beginning of the speech, but he was still speechless, none the less. His tongue was stuck to the roof of his jaw, his entire body seemed to slowly come back into existence from its still-state, and even his own mind was slowly returning to life. After all, Carlos was actually there! There, standing before him, alive and solid and just ... there; dimension-safe labcoat, perfect hair, and all.

"Carlos?" was all Cecil could say. He stepped forward till the tips of his shoes touched the scientist's own. With their noses now barely an inch apart, he felt his love's laugh of relief vibrate through his body, stretching up his arm from the hand that still gripped his wrist. A soft puff of air and the smell of his incredible aftershave spread around them, like a haze of fondness.

"Yes" was all he said back, though he also added, "I am home." But the words were quickly drowned out, because the words didn't matter. Because soon they were kissing, and that was all that mattered. They let the familiar touch of their lips remind them of what they missed, and what they needed. Their hands were busy now gripping shirts and labcoats and bringing themselves closer together, closer than they thought was possible after only standing an inch apart.

"I'll never leave again" Carlos managed to say between hectic caresses, finally shutting up once Cecil's hands were cradling his cheeks. They stood there for quite some time, letting the spectrum of colourful lights display their fastly-increasing affection. They couldn't hear the house, as it creaked and cracked in relief, sinking itself into a comfortable reframe, now as silent as the void appeared outside. The two men, now beginning to rip the clothes off each other's bodies, backed into the bedroom hurriedly, slamming the doors shut with Carlos's now bare foot.

The night passed them by in heat and prism darkness, sweat and touch, breaths of life and caresses of love. They stayed together, holding each other, till the morning sun lit the world back into life. And then for a little while longer.

After all, they did have till the end of days.

_Right?_

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to kudos and comment all the love you may have for my baby.
> 
> Also, come and find me on Tumblr, and make a request or just say g'day:
> 
> [@katasstropheee](http://katasstropheee.tumblr.com/)
> 
> ~


End file.
